Standing Still, Looking Pretty
by chloe-bug
Summary: My first LwD fic. Kind of a song fic. Also kind of a Dasey. Not good with summaries so you have to read it to find out.


**So this is my first LwD fic. I really did work hard on it, so I hope you like it! :) Please review to tell me how I did! Constructive critisism only please! Thanks! **

**Disclaimer : I don't own LwD, and ' Stand Still, Look Pretty' belongs to The Wreckers.**

--

Casey slowly walked into the house. She took a quick inventory of who was home. Lizzie and Edwin were sitting at the table with Nora helping them with their homework. Marti was sitting on Derek's lap watching the television while sitting in Derek's chair. She wondered where George was until she saw the time and realised that he shouldn't be home yet. Her mother looked up, finaly noticing her daughters' pressence.

" Casey, where have you been?" she asked, frowning.

Casey glanced over at her mother, frowning herself." I was at Emily's helping her with something. I called and told _Derek_ to tell you I would be late." Derek rolled his eyes but didn't respond." But that remindes me! Mom, is it okay if I skip dinner and go out? It's really important!" she said trying to convince her mother to let her go.

Nora squinted at Casey but nodded her head anyway," Okay, but bring Derek with you." Seeing her daughter start to argue, Nora shook her head," If you're going to be out late enough to miss dinner, then I want someone with you who can protect you." Then she turned back to Lizzie and Edwin, ending the conversation.

Casey sighed and turned to Derek," Be ready to go in thirty minutes." Then she turned and trotted up the stairs, not waiting for a response.

Derek rolled his eyes for a second time. Sitting up straighter, he gently pulled Marti off of his lap, slid of his chair, and replaced his little sister in the oversized seat before walking up the stairs himself. He walked into his room and shut the door behind him. He picked up a small bag and began walking around putting things he could use while Casey was doing her thing. He put in some playing cards, his ipod, and a couple magazines.

He glanced at his bedside clock and saw he should just go down stairs now to avoid an argument. Normally, he would love to get her riled up, but he was to tired to put in the effort today. He had to take a suprise test in English that he was sure he had failed, he had forgotten his math homework, and his science teacher had written him up for being late again.

Derek trugded down the steps and leaned against the front door waiting for his pain in the butt step-sister. After a few minutes of waiting, Casey flew down the stairs.

" Are you ready?" she asked him as she grabbed her lightest jacket off of the hook.

Derek nodded," Yeah. But where are we going?"

Casey gave him a small smile," You'll see." And then she was walking out the door towards the sidewalk.

Derek ran to catch up with her," Why can't we drive?"

Casey shook her head at him," It's not that far. We can be there in ten minutes if we hurry." They then walked in silence for the promised ten minutes before Casey suddenly turned into a small almost unnoticable store. Looking at the front window, Derek saw that it was a music store. Frowning, he followed Casey into the store. Looking around he saw that the store was fairly packed and that Casey was no where in sight. Panicing slightly, Derek rushed to the counter at the back wall of the store to talk to the man behind the counter.

The man looked up and smiled," Hi! How may I help you?"

" Have you seen my step-sister? She's about this tall?" He put his hand at his shoulder length," She has blue eyes and long curly brown hair? Have you seen her?"

The man frowned," You mean Casey?" Derek nodded." Oh, well she's in the back room practicing, but if your her step-brother, I'm sure she won't mind. Come on, I'll show you where it is." Derek nodded again and followed the man behind the counter and down a short hallway. At the end of the short hallway there was a door that the man stopped in front of." Well here you go. Just go through there. I've got to get back out front, but tell Casey I said ' Hi!'" Then the man was walking away.

Derek stared after him for a while before walking into the back room. He saw Casey sitting at a fairly large piano, tapping the keys to form music. Derek decided not to interupt and closed the door softly before walking over and taking a seat next to the piano. He was going to pull out one of the magazines and ipod that he had brought, but stopped when he heard Casey's voice start to sing.

_I want to paint my face  
And pretend that I am someone else  
Sometimes I get so fed up  
I don't even want to look at myself_

But people have problems that are worse than mine  
I don't want you to think I'm complaining all the time  
And I hate the way you look at me I have to say  
I wish I could start over

I am slowly falling apart  
I wish you'd take a walk in my shoes for a start  
You might think it's easy being me  
You just stand still, look pretty

Derek frowned when he heard the words she sang. Her eyes were closed and her fingers were dancing gracfully across the piano. Derek raised his eyebrows. He would never be able to play the piano with his eyes closed. He wondered why she would sing something so sad, and then realised that this is how she could tell people how she felt without directly saying what was wrong. He thought about how people must really think she was perfect. All sunshine and rainbows. But being Casey, she wouldn't say anything so no one would always think she was complaining.

_  
Sometimes I find myself shaking  
In the middle of the night  
And then it hits me and I can't  
Even believe this is my life_

_  
But people have problems that are worse than mine  
I don't want you to think I'm complaining all the time  
And I wish that everyone would go and shut their mouths  
I'm not strong enough to deal with it  
_

Now she was talking about Derek, he was sure. It _must_ be hard living with him as your step-brother. He could see it now. All the girls flocking around Casey, asking her what his favorite color was or what his favorite song was. Derek smirked, sure he may be full of himself, but the girls just egged him on further.

_I am slowly falling apart  
I wish you'd take a walk in my shoes for a start  
You might think it's easy being me  
You just stand still, look pretty  
_

_I am slowly falling apart  
I wish you'd take a walk in my shoes for a start  
You might think it's easy being me  
You just stand still, look pretty_

As last notes slowly faded, Derek was unblinkingly staring at Casey. She still had her eyes closed, so he looked down at his hands that were hanging between his knees. He was suprised when she spoke to him." Yes, that second verse was for you, but not in the way you think." His head shot up to look at her again. Her eyes were _still_ closed. How had she known what he was thinking? Then she spoke again," It's not that hard to know what's going through your head. Especially with lyrics like those."

Derek swallowed hard," I didn't know you played the piano."

Casey finally opened her eyes and smiled at him," No one does. I taught myself about two years ago when Mike said I could use this piano for free." Derek assumed Mike was the guy who had showed him to this room. Thinking her words over something stuck in his mind.

" Two years?" Casey nodded," Around the time you moved in with us?" He asked, but it came out as more of a statment. Casey nodded again, smile never fading." I didn't know you felt that way for so long."

Her smile turned into a sad one." No one does." She paused for a moment before continuing," Like I sang. There are people with worse problems than me."

Derek frowned not for the first time that day," Like who?" He asked in wonder. What could be worse than feeling like you're all alone and no one really sees you?

Casey sighed," Like Sam." Seeing Derek's confused look she explained," His parents have been fighting and he thinks they might be getting a divorce." Derek's eyes widend.

" How do you know that?" He asked in wonder. Why would Sam - _his_ best friend - talk to _Casey_ about something like _that_?

Casey just shrugged," He talked to me about it. He thought I could help. Then there's Emily. Her grandmother just died, and they were really close. Kendra and Ralph want to be together, but both are really worried about what everyone will think."

Derek cut her off," What do you mean they're worried about what people will think? They're two of the most confidant people I know."

Casey shook her head." Kendra thinks her friends will exile her if she dates him, and Ralph thinks you'll kill him if he dates your ex."

" I would never be mad if he asked her out. We were never that close anyway, Kendra and I. And why would they exile her? Ralph is on the hockey team! He's one of the most popular players on the team!

Casey shrugged," I don't know. But they're not the only ones. Marti's been fighting in school again and mom and George don't know what to do. Edwin's failing math and history. And Lizzie is dating Teddy, but she's in love with Edwin and he's totally in love with her too." Derek's eyebrows were lost behind his hair by now." And then there's you."

" What about me?" He asked, hesitantly.

Caey sighed again," One: You're not doing to good in English, mah, and science. Two: You and George have been fighting more. Three: You think Marti doesn't need you now that she's growing up. And four: You really like someone - I know who - but you won't admit it, and it's killing you inside." She stopped and looked up into his brown-green eyes." If need to talk - _ever_ - I'm here. Alright?"

Derek laughed slightly," It sounds like you got enough problems of your own." He gestured to the piano before continuing," And enough problems of everyone elses'."

Casey blushed," It's not like that."

Derek's eyebrows furrowed, but he decided not to push it, and bring up something else." Earlier you said that the second verse wasn't what I thought it was. What'd you mean by that?"

Casey closed her eyes," So you _did_ catch that." Shaking her head," Remember how I said Lizzie and Edwin are in love with each other? Well. . . They aren't the only ones. Again, like I sang, I wake up and I can't believe I live like this. I mean, I fell in love with my step-brother! That doesn't normally happen! And everyone keeps making up rumors and it's hard not to take them to heart and then I started to see you differently." She stopped suddenly," I'm babbling, aren't I?"

Derek nodded, his thoughts racing," Yeah."

Casey bowed her head," And now I've freaked you out. So if you want you can go home or wait out in the main room because I've still got another hour until Mike said he wants me to close up."

Derek shook his head," No. I'm good. Are you gonna play something else or the same song as before?"

Casey shrugged," Another song, I guess." She turned back to the piano, and her fingers started dancing across the keys again. The music was beautiful but she never added any words. He assumed that since she knew him so well she didn't want the words to distract him from his thoughts. He looked over at her and found that her eyes were once again closed and she was lost in the music.

He loved her. He knew he loved her a year and a half after meeting her ( before that she had just annoyed the hell out of him). Other than Marti, Casey was the person he loved more than anything. She was beautiful, smart, funny, and had more musical talent than he thought. He knew what he had to do. All he had to do was do it.

Slowly, he got up and slid onto the piano bench next to her. He wrapped his arms around her waist but she kept on playing that sweet, soft music. Her eyes were still closed when he gently pressed his lips to her right temple. A small smile escaped her lips when he lightly kissed the right corner of her mouth, but she didn't stop playing.

They sat there like that for a while. Him holding her and her playing the piano, both of them with their eyes closed. Eventually the song ended and the music stopped. Caesy was the first to open her eyes. She looked over at him and furrowed her eyebrows.

" Derek?" She asked tentively.

" Hmm?"

" Are you sure about this?" She was hesitant about asking him, he could tell by the tone of her voice.

" Of course I am." He answered calmly like he didn't care, but inside he thought that _she_ was having second thoughts.

" Okay. I just wanted to make sure." Then she got up, pulling Derek with her." Come on. It's time for me to close up."

Derek gave her a look," Do you work here or something?" Casey shook her head," Then why does this Mike guy ask you to close up?"

Casey shrugged," He just got married and he wants to get home to his wife, so he trusted me to lock up for him."

Derek nodded," Oh."

Casey smiled," Let's go home." And together they walked the ten minutes back to the house.

**--**

The next day at school, Derek was talking with Sam and Ralph, seeing them both in a new light. He turned to Ralph and smiled," So Ralph. I heard that Kendra likes you."

Ralph suddenly got very pale," Don't worry D! I would _never_ date one of your ex girlfriends!"

Derek frowned. So Casey_ was_ right." Why not? If you like her go for it!"

Ralph's eyes widend," Are you sure Derek?" Derek nodded." Okay! I'll talk to her later!" And then he rushed off.

Derek turned to Sam," So how's your life been?" he asked silently hoping Sam would confess.

Sam shrugged," Nothing much. Doin' okay in my classes. But my parents have been fighting more. They told me last night that they were seperating. Which I guess is for the best." Derek's heart went out to his friend.

" Well you can stay over at my place for a few nights if you want to get away for a while."

Sam shook his head," Nah. I'm kind of like the buffer for the two of them. But thanks anyway!" Sam sighed," I better get to class. I'll see you at lunch?" he asked as he walked away.

Derek nodded," See you at lunch." Then he turned in the opposite direction towards his own class. He knew he shared this class with both Kendra, Casey and Emily, but Emily wasn't here today because of obvious reasons. But he had left a card for her at her door step, saying if she needed to talk, he was there. So today it was just Kendra, Casey, and himself. As he passed Casey's desk at the front of the room, he winked subtly to her. She blushed a light pink and smiled back. Then making his way to the back of the room he passed Kendra's desk in the middle row. He smiled at her and slipped a note onto the desk next to he hand. She frowned at him before reaching for the note and opening it.

He knew what was written in the note. He wrote that if Kendra really liked Ralph, then go ask him out and don't worry about everyone else. And then if anyone said anything, Derek himself would go kick their butts.

By the time class was over Kendra was shaking with anticipation. As soon as the bell rang, she was out the door bolting down the hallway. Derek was laughing when Caesy walked up to him, frowning.

" What did you do?" She asked curiously.

Derek shrugged," Just helping out a couple of friends." He responded.

Casey gave him a small confused smile," Come on. We better get to lunch. Then we can see how much help you've been." She grabbed his hand and they walked to the lunch room.

--

Together, stepping into the lunch room, they saw Ralph and Kendra holding hands just like the two of them. They also noticed Sam looked happier than h had in days. Derek and Casey walked over to the table that their friends were sitting at and sat down with them. They talked and laughed together, when suddenly Sheldon appeared in that freaky way of his.

" Casey?" He asked nervously," Can I talk to you about something?" He glanced at Derek as if asking if it was okay to borrow his new girlfriend for a little bit.

Casey nodded and got up, slowly detaching herself from Derek," Yeah. Let's go." And together they sat at an empty table across the room, but still in perfect view of Derek and his friends. Casey started to nod her head in understanding

Kendra shook her head," What is she doing?" She asked confused

Derek smiled sadly and answered softly," Just standing still, and looking pretty."

--

**Okay. . . How was it? I know my spelling sucks and parts probably didn't make sence, but I think it was pretty good for my first LwD fic. Please review so I can know how I did. Constructive critisism only please :) Thanks!!**


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